Many existing instant-win lottery cards or tickets comprise a paper substrate to which foil is laminated. The foil is then coated both to minimize oxidation and to provide an ink-retaining surface onto which symbols may be printed in a selected area. At least one additional sealant may be applied to the inked surface to protect the printed symbols, and a single opaque metallic latex covering used to obscure them from view. Post purchase or distribution, the ticket bearer, or player, typically removes ("scratches off") the latex covering to reveal the hidden symbols. Existing tickets often further include at least one "release" coat interposed between the latex covering and protective coating to facilitate the removal of the latex covering in use.
The area of the ticket in which the symbols are printed and the latex covering is applied is often called the "secure" region of the ticket. Because it contains the symbols that ultimately determine whether a player has won a prize, this region is typically protected from certain types of tampering, both pre- and post-purchase. Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/195,759, for example, discusses various methods of improving the security of the hidden symbols on the card against physical, electrical, magnetic, chemical, and artistic tampering. Using an opaque latex covering itself helps protect the secure region of the ticket from certain optical tampering such as candling. To ensure appropriate adherence to the latex covering, specially-formulated "overprint" inks, typically requiring separate print stations, are used.
By contrast, the remainder of the ticket is known as the "unsecure" portion or area. It often includes aesthetic graphics or vibrant pictures, printed with inks different than those used in the secure region, designed to enhance the overall appeal of the ticket to potential purchasers. The unsecure region need not include an opaque latex covering, as candling or otherwise tampering with it will not reveal the nature or the content of the hidden symbols. Moreover, because the latex covering increases the manufacturing cost of the ticket, applying this covering to the unsecure region is not economical.
Notwithstanding the security devices employed in connection with these tickets, some possibility remains that unscrupulous players may attempt to alter the characteristics of the tickets. Results sought to be achieved in these instances include changing a "losing" ticket to a "winning" one, increasing the value of the prize awarded on a "winning" ticket, or determining, in advance of purchase, whether a ticket is a "winning" one and the nature of the award. Persons to whom tickets are accessible, for example, may attempt to locate the boundaries of the latex coverings and remove those coverings intact so they may observe the (then visible) symbols and, if necessary, reattach the coverings without raising suspicions that tampering has occurred. The structures of existing tickets do not necessarily fully deter these attempts, as the differing inks used in the secure and unsecure regions often demarcate (rather then camouflage) the boundaries of the latex covering.